Premier League - West Ham frustrate Stoke in goalless draw

Stoke City had more of the ball and more of the chances but they were left frustrated by the resolute defending of West Ham, as well as their own slackness in the final third, as they drew 0-0.

Both teams went into the game feeling they had underachieved this season and that proved to be the over-arching theme of the day.

Stoke in particular, but West Ham as well, produced some very nice football but they just couldn't find the goal, either being denied by a good save or defending or being let down by a poor pass.

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On his first home game in over a year Stoke keeper Jack Butland was excellent, making a couple of fine stops, as was West Ham counterpart Adrian, who was called into action in the second half.

Ultimately both teams have work to do over the summer if they're going to push into the European places.

TALKING POINT

Stoke City are agonisingly close to being an excellent team. Honestly they're so close. They have an excellent keeper in Butland, some fine defenders and two horrible players to play against in Marko Arnautovic and Xherdan Shaqiri. The latter in particular was sensational, causing havoc for the West Ham defence. However it's just not quite there. The struggles of Saido Berahino, now at 1,657 minutes without a Premier League goal, really don't help matters and Peter Crouch won't get you 15 goals a season. The purchase of a top-class striker, perhaps along with a more creative central midfielder, must be a priority in the summer.

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MAN OF THE MATCH

Jack Butland (Stoke City): It may seem odd to pick the Stoke keeper when his team were so dominant but Butland was excellent. Shaqiri would have deserved it had Stoke won but Butland was hugely important in helping Stoke secure their first clean sheet since March 8. His save from Ayew in the first half showed good reactions whilst he did very well to deny the same man in the second half before getting up quickly to atop Lanzini too. He looked assured generally and his return is massive for Stoke.